RECYCLING

Over the past few decades, recycling has become a central component of
many business operations in the United States. Recycling is valued for the
cost-savings associated with some programs as well as its general
environment-friendly aspects. Recycling programs are comprised of three
elements in a continuum represented by the well-known "chasing
arrows" symbol that adorns recyclable products: 1) collection of
recyclable materials from the waste stream; 2) processing of those
materials into new products; and 3) purchasing of products containing
recycled materials.

THE GROWTH OF RECYCLING IN THE BUSINESS WORLD

The importance of recycling programs in the business world to the
environment can hardly be over-stated. Businesses account for
approximately one-third of the United States' total solid waste. As
of 2000, for example, a study cited in the
Business Journal—Milwaukee
indicated that each office worker in America produced between 120 and 150
pounds of recyclable office paper per year, only 10 percent of which was
typically recycled. Not surprisingly, paper accounts for a higher
percentage (an estimated 40 percent) of the American waste stream than any
other material. Many corporate recycling programs reflect this reality,
and even businesses with exceedingly modest recycling programs sometimes
take steps to collect wastepaper for recycling.

Recycling first emerged as an ongoing component of business operations in
the late 1960s and early 1970s, as concerns about the pace at which the
United States and other nations were consuming natural resources became
widespread. (Previous recycling campaigns, such as the ones introduced in
America during World War II, were relatively short-term efforts that were
not predicated on environmental concerns.) The first national Earth Day
celebration in 1970 heralded anti-litter campaigns, the creation of the
federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the introduction of
some of the first municipal and corporate recycling programs.

Legislation during that period provided an additional impetus for
recycling programs, especially in the federal government. The Solid Waste
Disposal Act had established resource recovery goals as a priority for
U.S. environmental and energy conservation programs. The Resource Recovery
Act of 1970 amended the previous legislation, mandating paper recycling
and procurement of recycled products in federal agencies wherever
economically feasible. The well-known Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act of 1976 completely revised both acts, imposing requirements regarding
hazardous waste disposal and mandating the recycling of non-hazardous
waste in federal facilities. The legislation included the requirement that
federal agencies "purchase items that contain the highest
percentage of recovered materials practicable given their availability,
price and quality." Around the same time, deposit laws that
encouraged recycling of glass beverage bottles were passed in several
states around the country.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services
Administration (GSA), which were jointly charged with administration of
the program, launched "Use It Again, Sam," an earnest and
widespread federal office paper recycling program, in 1976. Within two
years, 90 federal agencies and their
115,000 employees were recycling, their efforts guided by a
comprehensive, EPA-issued manual. The federal recycling program declined
in the 1980s. Many state and local governments around the country stepped
in to fill this void in the ensuing decade, but overall, low disposal
costs relegated recycling to little more than an afterthought of solid
waste management in the 1970s and early 1980s.

In the late 1980s, however, several factors converged to revive interest
in recycling as an attractive alternative to traditional disposal. Growing
concerns about both the proliferation and toxic characteristics of
landfills around the country brought closures, increased regulation,
higher costs, and public opposition to location and expansion of
landfills. Other options, such as incinerators, were explored, but these
proved controversial as well. Another important factor was a general
increase in anxiety about the state of America's (and the
world's) environment. Finally, growing numbers of companies came to
see environmental friendliness as a viable means of attracting consumers.

By the late 1980s, a number of eastern states had adopted mandatory
recycling legislation. This trend toward recycling legislation, combined
with increasing consumer demand for environmental responsibility and
corporate frustration with rising waste disposal expenses, prompted a
modest revitalization of recycling programs in the 1990s.

DEFINING "RECYCLABLE" AND "RECYCLED CONTENT"

Given the popularity of recycled products and the various benefits that
accrue from being known as a good corporate citizen, most businesses are
eager to use terms like "recyclable" and "recycled
content" on their packaging and in their advertising. But as J.
Stephen Shi and Jane M. Kane pointed out in
Business Horizons,
the government has clearly defined those terms to prevent businesses from
making misleading or fraudulent recycling claims. "For a product to
be labeled recyclable," wrote Shi and Kane, "the product
must be easily collected, separated, or otherwise recovered from what
would generally be considered trash and then used for making a new package
or product." They go on to note that companies also have a
responsibility to qualify whether it is the product or the packaging (or
both) that is recyclable, or to qualify claims of responsibility if the
product is purchased in an area with limited recycling facilities.

"Recycled content," meanwhile, refers to goods made out of
materials that would have otherwise been thrown out for good, relegated to
a landfill or incinerator. "To qualify as having recycled
content," wrote Shi and Kane, "the materials can come from
waste produced in either the manufacturing process or post-consumer use
[materials recycled by consumers]…. Again, manufacturers must be
careful to indicate exactly what part—the product or the
package—is made from recyclable material. If there is more than one
component to the packaging, the manufacturer must indicate exactly which
part of the packaging is made from recycled content. An example of this
type of packaging is a paperboard box that is made of recycled materials
covered by plastic shrink wrap that is not." Finally, they warn
that manufacturers are guilty of misleading consumers if they claim that a
product is composed of recycled content in instances where the company was
merely following normal industry practice. "A manufacturer that
routinely gathers spilled raw materials after trimming finished products
and then adds the trimmings to virgin material for further production of
the same product cannot claim that its product is made out of recycled
content," they explained.

Business consultants, officials, and environmental groups all recognize
that some of the regulations regarding permissible recycling/environmental
claims are complex, but they urge business owners not to let this fact
scare them off. Full descriptions of the rules governing recycling claims
are available, and the potential benefits—both to the business and
the environment—can often make the additional research an
ultimately worthwhile endeavor.

EDUCATION
Education encompasses training of both leaders and participants in
recycling practices. Not surprisingly, the most successful recycling
programs are ones that have the active involvement of business owners and
managers and the full participation of employees. Observers of successful
recycling initiatives note that this involvement is much more likely to
occur if the company owners and work force are well-informed about the
reasons for recycling and the ways in which recycling practices can be
effectively instituted. There are a wide variety of resources available to
businesses interested in organizing recycling programs. Regional
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offices and state-affiliated natural
resource departments throughout the country offer information packets and
recycling kits.

After learning about recycling in general, business owners and managers
should continue the education process by studying the operational factors
that will be unique to their company's recycling efforts.
One of the most effective ways in which this can be accomplished is
through the use of a "waste audit." A waste audit should
note the sources, amounts, and types of trash generated; the current
methods and cost of disposal; and the volume of potentially recyclable
trash. Based on these findings, leaders of recycling programs can
determine which materials to target. Some experts advise beginning
recyclers to limit their programs to one type of waste, usually
high-quality bond and computer paper. Once participants have grown
accustomed to recycling, the program can be expanded to include aluminum,
newspaper, plastics, glass, cardboard and other materials. The types and
volumes of materials to be recycled will govern the methods of collection
employed.

COLLECTION
Collection comprises the nuts-and-bolts logistics of separating,
gathering, and storing recyclables from trash at their source. The most
common methods of collection employed in the workplace are the desktop
container, a series of designated containers, or a central collection
area, but some businesses employ vendor sorting, where mixed recyclables
are stored together and sorted off-site by the waste hauler. These
containers are usually brought by janitorial or mailroom staff to a
storage area, where they are kept until they are picked up. Some companies
dealing with sensitive, proprietary, or confidential information may also
need to consider destruction (by shredding, for example) as part of this
step.

Maintenance of quality standards is paramount to this facet of a
successful recycling program. Similar materials, like white and colored
paper, may have a market separately, but are nearly worthless when mixed.
Processors of most types of paper discourage commingling of
"stickies" (labels, stickers and tape), food, and other
contaminants. Although source separation has proven to be the best
collection method, new technological advances will almost certainly
relieve some of this separation pressure in the future.

MARKETING
Marketing recyclable materials to a processor involves research and
contracting. Dealers in waste paper—the most commonly recycled
material—can be found in local phone directories or through contact
with the Paper Stock Institute of America. The
EI Environmental Services Directory,
"the nation's largest, most in-depth directory of
environmental service providers," lists and describes over 2,000
vendors. There are many variables that entrepreneurs and small business
owners should heed when seeking a buyer for their recyclable materials,
however. Foremost among these is usually cost. "The quality of a
particular collected material greatly affects the price that interested
buyers are willing to pay," stated the
Encyclopedia of the Environment.
"Uncontaminated materials—for example, glass that is free
of stones, ceramics, or other material—command prices substantially
greater than contaminated materials. To help in evaluating the quality of
a material, government and industry organizations have developed numerous
quality standards. The actual price of a material depends on additional
factors such as its relative abundance and the subsequent cost of
transporting it to manufacturers."

PROCUREMENT
Although it is sometimes over-looked, procurement is a vital component of
recycling programs. Procurement helps "close the recycling
loop," for it is the process whereby companies arrange to purchase
and use supplies made from recycled materials. Most analysts of recycling
programs contend that implementation of this stage of recycling often lags
behind other stages. Recent studies indicate that while an overwhelming
majority of businesses do have recycling collection systems of one kind or
another in place, a far lower percentage of those businesses purchase
recycled materials for use in their own operations.

This is due in part to the costs associated with developing additional
capacity to use "secondary"—rather than
virgin—materials. As the
Encyclopedia of the Environment
observed, "market conditions must be appropriate for companies to
even consider new investments, credit must be available for financing
projects, and sites have to be found and regulatory permits
obtained."

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Each aspect of the recycling program should be monitored and evaluated
for efficiency and progress. This is especially important for smaller
companies, where flawed practices can have a more pronounced impact on
fundamental business health. A cost-benefit analysis of the program can
strengthen management support and encourage expansion to other areas of
the company and/or other products in the waste stream.